Naming Rights Continue At Finley Stadium

Tuesday, October 9, 2018 - by Gail Perry

Finley Stadium will be continuing a partnership with both First Tennessee for the naming rights of the pavilion. The terms for naming rights are $100,000 yearly for 10 years with a two percent inflation increase automatically built in. First Tennessee has been a great partner, and the agreement further cements a great relationship, said Gordon Davenport Jr..

Capital improvements to the facility including a new, large video board, premium seating with backs and armrests, new air conditioning units and wheelchair accessibility have had a positive effect on the experience of people attending events at Finley Stadium this fall. The stadium has been thriving with almost constant use and there are already 250 events booked in 2019, Executive Director Chris Thomas told the Finley Stadium board of directors on Tuesday. Many of these are returning events, he said.

Some highlights include The Chattanooga Marathon and Riverside Street Meet at the beginning of March. UTC will hold the UTC Spring Festival on March 29 and 30. This “football showcase” takes the place of the annual spring game. The two day Chattanooga event, will have carnival games, a concert, a 5K run, food and beverages in the Pavilion on Friday night, and fireworks, in addition to the football showcase.

Vintage Market Days are scheduled for four dates and the High School Jamboree will be held on August 15-17. The UTC opener is Aug. 31 and Octoberfest 2019 will be Oct. 11-13.

Maintenance is ongoing at the 21-year-old facility. In the past several years, TVs have been upgraded to HD, seats have been reupholstered, some sky boxes have been revamped, a new roof has been put on, and new artificial turf was installed. Astroturf has been scheduled to do annual maintenance on the field. That has been a good investment in order to make sure that the field is in top shape, said Mr. Thomas. Other issues will need attention in the next five years that are not readily visible, said Mr. Davenport.

With only 6-8 weeks remaining for football and operation of the Chattanooga Market, the stadium is already working toward winterizing the facility, said the executive director. Now attention is turning compiling a list of what maintenance needs to be done in the next year.

The video board has “changed the atmosphere” watching a game, said Mr. Davenport, but UTC is the only partner that has expertise to use it. The stadium board would like to have other users have access to it, by making a moderate investment in training available for them. From the beginning, it was recognized that there would be a learning curve associated with the board, said Mr. Davenport. The board needs to figure out where to go from here.

There may be a special meeting called to discuss contracts for soccer, prior to the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Finley Stadium Board, which is tentatively scheduled for Dec 4 at 11:30 a.m. It is a work in progress, said Mr. Davenport. He said, "We are continuing to work in good faith with all parties around that topic."

The Chattanooga Airport is busier than ever, and steps are being taken to add a host of new parking space, officials said Monday.
The Airport showed strong growth in 2018. Terry Hart, president ... (click for more)

The Hamilton County Water and Wastewater Treatment Authority and County Commissioner Tim Boyd want to build a sewage treatment plant in my backyard. I bought my house in Ooltewah in 1994, raised my children here and worked hard to pay it off. My home has been my small piece of the American Dream. Now, the WWTA and Commissioner Boyd want to reward my hard work by taking away about ... (click for more)

There is a huge shopping mall in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin -- think of a suburb of Milwaukee -- and about two-to-three miles away from the Mayfair Mall is where the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin is located. The fact the renowned medical center is in the vicinity of the mall is what we call “a salient point,” which are very important when a story is presented that many, many people ... (click for more)

Reports surfaced Monday that Cleveland’s boys’ and girls’ basketball teams broke curfew and engaged in inappropriate conduct after a basketball double-header last Friday in Oak Ridge.
The Blue Raiders and Lady Blue Raiders played doubleheaders at Fulton and Oak Ridge over the weekend.
On Tuesday, Russell Dyer, director of Cleveland schools, released a statement through the ... (click for more)

East Hamilton’s Lady Hurricanes fell to St. Francis (Georgia), 58-53, in their opening game Tuesday in the CresCom Bank Holiday Invitational at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Junior Madison Hayes scored a game-high 33 points on 12-of-20 shooting and also grabbed 11 rebounds for the Lady Canes (7-5), but even that wasn’t enough to overcome ... (click for more)